Posts by BodyMind

If you live in Tenino and you've been in a car accident, you have to know that you don't have to suffer from chronic problems.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Chronic Pain after an Auto Injury

We treat several auto injury patients in our Tenino office, and a lot of these men and women are dealing with chronic pain caused by an old collision. As a matter of fact, research shows that a significant percentage of rear-end accidents can cause pain and disability even ten years after the original trauma.

Mr. Kenney is here to help you avoid developing chronic pain by helping to restore the healthy function of your spine soon after a crash.

The most frequent causes of chronic issues are reduced mobility of your spinal column and the development of scar tissue in your spine. The ligaments of your spine can easily be injured during a crash, and chiropractic works by reducing inflammation and restoring normal movement.

We Can Help With Chronic Pain and Auto Injury Recovery

If you're near our Tenino office, and you've been hurt in a collision, don't wait to get treatment. Mr. Kenney is here for you. Give us a call today at (360) 866-3731 for an appointment or for more information.

We tend to a large number of patients in our Tenino office, and Mr. Kenney has helped many people manage a variety of health issues. However, a frequent worry that seems to prevent some men and women from getting care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the subject), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 men and women. Each individual reported affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care whereas the remaining patients received two fake chiropractic adjustments. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unfavorable reactions occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic treatments.

The doctors reported that nobody documented any serious undesirable adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did state that they got a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

The next research study(2), also released in the prestigious publication, Spine, was performed in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the investigators found no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the first study, some volunteers did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this caused the authors to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe for Your Children

This third research paper(3) is different from the previous two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the researchers investigated data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the young children, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse effects. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Furthermore, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on studies like these, chiropractic has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Tenino office and make an appointment today at (360) 866-3731.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.

We work with many back pain patients in our Tenino chiropractic office, and Mr. Kenney and our staff uses a variety of techniques to help get you out of pain and restore your spine's normal, healthy function. We find spinal decompression to be an effective approach.

Understanding Spinal Decompression Therapy

To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like small balloons filled with jelly. When you squeeze them (which occurs due to normal living, sustaining an injury, or other medical conditions), they can protrude, placing pressure on the nerves in your spinal column. This affects your brain's ability to communicate with tissues in the rest of your body.

If the stress on the discs becomes too high, they can herniate or protrude. This reduces the cushion between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The objective of spinal decompression therapy is to reduce this pressure to help restore your body's function and also reduce your level of discomfort.

Can Spinal Decompression Therapy Help Me?

Spinal decompression therapy relieves disc pressure through the use of a specially designed table that gently elongates your spinal column through slow and controlled movements. This decreases the pressure placed on your discs. Some studies report an increase in disc height by as much as 1.3 millimeters after just six weeks of spinal decompression therapy.

If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and perform better, simply call our Tenino office and schedule an appointment with Mr. Kenney today. Your optimal health is our number one priority!

Resources

Apfel CC, Cakmakkaya OS, Richmond C, et al. Restoration of disk height through non-surgical spinal decompression is associated with decreased discogenic low back pain: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2010;11(155). doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-155

We see a number of people with back pain in our Tenino office, and Mr. Kenney has been able to provide many of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people utilize both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a study published by the academic journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute discomfort and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder were given chiropractic adjustments as well as standard medical care, as researchers wanted to see which group fared better.

The authors determined that the group that got standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared to just 17 percent of the medical treatment only group who reported the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

Thus, integrating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research from UCLA² that was printed in the American Journal of Public Health reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than patients undergoing medical care.

According to the researchers, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors commonly spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical care, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

Additionally, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from medications and more permanent results.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Tenino clinic a call today at (360) 866-3731. We'll do our best to help you get and continue to be free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.